London Shopping

R K Tailoring

2007-08-23T11:36:00.000-07:00

R K Tailoring, Unit 6, 26 Kingly Street, London W1B 5QB, Tel. 020 7734 3222
Nearest tube - equally close to Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus
Map here

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The aim of this blog is to give retail recommendations, and this is from the top drawer. Unlike the other entries here it's not a shop, but it still qualifies because it's an alterations tailor.
Everyone needs an alterations tailor for three reasons:
1 - Stuff very rarely fits. I used to have a friend who had a job pinning up clothes that were used in magazine and catalogue shoots - that is, the clothes didn't fit the models, so they had to be made to fit to look good in the pictures
2 - Don't get stuff altered in the shop if it's cotton. Cotton always shrinks the first two times it is washed - including pre-shrunk cotton - so if they take up your trousers they won't fit as well after a couple of washes. Take it home, wash it twice, then get it altered
3 - Some stuff only fits in some dimensions, but with a skillful tailor it can be made to fit properly.
R K Tailoring comes highly recommended, but ring up first to check on their opening times

Lina Stores

2007-07-12T11:10:00.000-07:00

Lina Stores, 18 Brewer Street, London, W1F OSH
Nearest Tube - pretty much equi-distant between Oxford Circus, Tottenham Court Road, Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus
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When I started this blog I didn't want to include food shops, but I'll make an exception for Lina Stores. In a city full of Italian shops, it is near the top, with excellent pasta, meat, cheese and bread, and they even make their own ravioli every day. Highly recommended!

Learn To Dream

2007-06-12T01:14:00.000-07:00

Best accessed online - www.learntodream.co.uk & by phone - 0845 456 4033
Learn To Dream is a photo developing studio that does work to a super-professional standard. While I've used Snappy Snaps before to put images on canvas to pretty amazing effect, but for my photo of Hong Kong at night I wanted something special.
The Proud Galleries used to run a service, and have now discontinued it, but they gave me the details for Learn To Dream.
What you do is email a photo to them, and then they ring you up to discuss what they could do with it. I had my photo done A1 size, with a silver finish and now the lights in the photo glow a bit like they did on the night. I've very happy with the result, and can recommend it to anyone. It's not cheap (£270 for mine), but compare that to professionally finished and framed pictures that you can buy.

Smudge Gallery

2007-02-09T10:33:00.000-08:00

Smudge gallery, Commercial Street, London E1 6BG Nearest Tube - Liverpool Street, Aldgate East or Whitechapel Map
Website
Alternative Website

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The Smudge Gallery is at one corner of Spittalfields market, and is the place to go to buy good quality prints of graffiti and street art - your genuine Banksys, basically. Lots of sizes available, and a pretty quick turnover of new designs

Edwards & Todd

2007-02-09T10:24:00.000-08:00

25A Museum Street, London , WC1A 1LY
Nearest Tube - Totenham Court Road or Holborn
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Edwards & Todd is a small shop near to the British Museum that sells a wide range of cards, jewelry, gifts, and things for the home. The perfect place for Valentines gifts, or unusual soaps, or teddy bears, or...

Duke of Uke

2007-02-09T10:10:00.000-08:00

22 Hanbury Street, London, E1 6QR
Nearest Tube - Liverpool Street, Aldgate East, or Whitechapel
Map
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The Duke of Uke is a music shop that only sells Ukeleles and Banjos. Sitting a couple of streets away from Spittalfields market it is a very strange place to browse, and perfect for that very unusual present for a musical friend. The shop also has a recording studio (see website for details) and sometimes has musical events in the shop. It's also notable for featuring in a Jimmy Carr stand up routine: "Near where I live there's a shop that sells only ukeleles. I can never resist ringing my girlfriend to say 'I'm just passing the ukelele shop - do you want anything?'"

Traditional Toys

2007-01-31T11:40:00.000-08:00

Chelsea Green, 53 Godfrey Street, London, SW3 5SX
Nearest Tube - Sloane Square
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Traditional Toys is hidden away in Chelsea Green, an an area a few streets away from the Kings Road in Chelsea. The shop is tiny, and crammed to overflowing with unusual and very traditional toys, many of which are made of wood. Perfect for presents for small children, and in the past I've bought a toy theatre, a bow and arrow, and a sailing boat. Everyone wanted to know where I found them!

Freud

2007-01-28T11:08:00.000-08:00

198 Shaftesbury Avenue, WC2H 8JL
Nearest Tube - A dead heat between Tottenham Court Road, Leicester Square and Covent Garden
Map
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Freud is a small shop at street level at the top end of Shaftesbury Avenue. Underneath is the slightly better known cocktail bar (also call Freud), but both are largely undiscovered gems given that I know people who've worked two minutes away who haven't discovered either. Freud (the shop) sells the most beautiful fans, glasses, coffee makers and other things that would make you the best giver at any wedding. Oh - and for some reason they spell it FREVD on the door, but it's definitely FREUD...

Lisa Stickley

2007-01-21T09:44:00.000-08:00

74 Landor Rd, Clapham, London SW9 9PH
Nearest Tube - Clapham North
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Lisa Stickley is textile designer, and her shop showcases her elegant, classical and quirky designs. It's the perfect place to browse for unusual takes on common household items like tea towels or ironing board covers, and also the perfect place for that difficult 'aunt present'. Also check out the window display, featuring their joke of the week.

Art Vinyl

2007-01-15T10:20:00.000-08:00

13 Broadway Market, London E8 4PH
Nearest Tube - None, but near to London Fields
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Art Vinyl is a gallery and a shop, focussing on the nearly-lost area of album art design. they have designed a unique frame that lets you display your album sleeves as pictures on the wall, easily openable so that you can change your art depending on mood. The shop also includes a whole gallery of classic sleeves, and others that you can buy. The perfect housewarming present for the music lover!

The Hive Honey Shop

2007-01-14T07:30:00.000-08:00

93 Northcote Road London SW11 6PL
Nearest Tube - None, but close to Clapham Junction
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The Hive Honey Shop boasts that it sells the best honey in London. I can't personally endorse that, but I can say that this wonderful shop, on Northcote Road, is one of the most interesting. It sells everything related to honey and beeswax, has an incredible aroma, and even features a working beehive inside the shop, where you can see bees at work between two panes of glass.

Stephan Haroutunian Shirts

2007-01-14T07:21:00.000-08:00

95 Moore Park Road

London SW6 2DA

Nearest Tube - Fulham Broadway

Website - StephanShirts

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There's little in life quite as nice as a made to measure shirt. Stephan Hartounian is able to offer these at a very competitive price (£70 or so, no minimum order), through being in a relatively unfashionable part of London, and getting all the shirts made at the family factory in Cyprus. The shirts themselves are absolutely beautiful - why not treat yourself?

Daunt Books

2006-12-22T05:22:00.000-08:00

83 Marylebone High Street
London
W1U 4QW
Nearest Tube - Regent's Park, Baker Street or Bond Street
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Daunt Books is my favourite London bookshop. It exudes history, has knowledgeable staff, displays books in an eclectic way, and is a great place to both browse and buy. The branch I've shown here is in Marylebone High Street, and has an enormous travel books section, where both guides and fiction set in that country site side by side on the shelves. So if you're going to Barcelona pop in and get both your guidebook and a couple of novels to inspire you during your stay.

SKK

2006-12-22T05:08:00.000-08:00

34 Lexington Street
London
W1F 0LH
Nearest Tube - Any of Oxford Circus, Tottenham Court Road, Piccadilly Circus or Leicester Square
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SKK is my favourite lighting shop in London. When you first walk in it looks in part like a workshop, with bits of lighting equipment lying around and a general lack of 'We are a shop' vibe. However this just encouraces you to explore, and see some of the very clever and limited edition lights that they have on offer.

Ian Logan Design Shop

2006-12-22T04:59:00.000-08:00

Ian Logan Design Company
42 Charterhouse Square
London EC1 M6EA
Nearest tube - Barbican
Map
Website

This is probably my favourite shop in London. It's very small, but contains more original gifts and ideas than large department stores. Most of my friends and family have had presents from here at some point - but I still keep finding new things every time I go back.

Update - as of early 2008 Ian Logan closed its doors, but the website is still live.

There are a couple of alternatives I'd recommend for that special present - Pedlars in Notting Hill and Magma in the West End - the 'product shop at No. 16 Earlham Street, not the bookshop at No. 8

London Shopping

2006-11-24T09:30:00.000-08:00

The Aim of this blog is to catalogue and recommend some of my favourite shops. I love London, and I love some of the shops. I don't mean the department stores, although some are very good; what I want to write about are the cult, quirky shops that you only discover after living in a city for years. Shops like Daunt Books, Divertimenti and Ian Logan Design.